Current Legal News

Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.

A story on WZTV Fox 17 in Nashville extols the benefits provided by the Legal Aid Society and the Nashville Bar Association through the groups’ free legal clinics. Clinic volunteer John Farringer, a lawyer with Sherrard and Roe, explains how the clinic works and why lawyers are willing to donate their time and expertise to such endeavors. Learn more here.

The TBA’s Leadership Law program this month began its 10th year with an opening retreat for the class of 2013. Programming started Thursday afternoon and continues through Saturday at Montgomery Bell State Park. The 32 members of the class have already heard from some of the leading lawyers in the state, including Byron Trauger, Houston Gordon, Lewis Donelson, Randy Kinnard and TBA presidents Jackie Dixon, Gail Ashworth, Pam Reeves, Charles Swanson and John Tarpley. The group will meet monthly until graduating during the 2013 TBA Convention in Nashville June 12-15.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is accepting applications for its Citizen’s Academy, which is designed to develop better understanding and awareness of the agency in the community. It offers citizens a close look at the TBI’s work investigating crime scenes and cyber crime, tracking terrorism information and conducting forensics examinations. The program runs May 7-28 at the TBI headquarters in Nashville. Applicants must be at least 21 years old and be physically able to meet training and scheduling requirements. Those interested should fill out the application by Feb. 28.

Ed Stanton, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, has appointed veteran federal prosecutor Larry Laurenzi as the new chief of the office’s Civil Rights Unit, The Memphis Daily News reports. Laurenzi replaces Steve Parker who left the office to join a U.S. Justice Department detail in New Orleans. Stanton created the Civil Rights Unit in 2011 to investigate traditional civil rights violations as well as government corruption, human trafficking and hate crimes cases.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week turned away a challenge from former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and other Social Security recipients who say they have the right to reject Medicare in favor of continuing health coverage from private insurers. The justices did not comment in letting the federal appeals court ruling stand, reports The Memphis Daily News. Also this week, the court considered what limitations could be placed on class-action lawsuits. The issue is whether plaintiff lawyers reduce estimates of the damages they seek or use procedural loopholes to keep cases in state court, where according to Justice Antonin Scalia, “generous juries” and “very favorable judges” can be common. The justices appeared receptive to the argument that lawyers artificially lower the amount of money at stake to keep suits in state courts, reports the Washington Post.

U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan yesterday accepted the gavel as chief judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee in a ceremony packed with fellow judges, politicians, lawyers and prosecutors, reports Knoxnews.com. Varlan is the first Greek-American to be appointed to a federal judgeship in the district and, now, as chief judge of that same district. Former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe served as master of ceremonies. Varlan was Knoxville's law director from 1988 to 1998 during Ashe's tenure and served as a legislative intern for Ashe. U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Knoxville, spoke and said he played a "small role" in pushing for Varlan's appointment to the federal bench in 2003. He called Varlan "a man of integrity" with "the heart of a servant."

The Tennessee Supreme Court has reappointed Hayden D. Lait of Memphis, Howard H. Vogel of Knoxville, and C. Suzanne Landers of Memphis to its Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission. Tracy Shaw, a lawyer with Howell & Fisher in Nashville, joins the panel for the first time and replaces Judge Ben Cantrell. There is one vacancy on the body following the death of Harold Archibald. Download the full roster

Shelby County commissioners met this week to air criticisms with a settlement agreement reached between the county Juvenile Court and the U.S. Department of Justice several weeks ago. The commission is questioning whether the agreement can be enacted without its input and approval. Commission chairman Mike Ritz has requested an opinion from the county attorney on that issue. Another commissioner, Terry Roland, has asked the Tennessee attorney general for a ruling as well. Read the latest in the Memphis Commercial Appeal

The House of Representatives voted today to cap at 15 the number of bills each member can introduce. House Speaker Beth Harwell originally had proposed a limit of 10. Democrats criticized the move calling it censorship. In other news, the House also voted for a rule supported by Harwell barring members from asking others to cast votes for them when they are absent. The Tennessean reports.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner sent letters today to Gov. Bill Haslam, House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey requesting a joint Government Operations Committee meeting to investigate the Department of Children’s Services' (DCS) refusal to release records on child deaths. He also requested an investigation into reports that DCS has returned children to homes where there is evidence of abuse, according to The Tennessean. Turner’s request comes two days after a hearing in Davidson County Chancery Court on a lawsuit brought by The Tennessean and other media outlets around the state. News also came out today that DCS fired two top staffers on Tuesday whose duties at the agency included reviewing the deaths of children.

Federal regulators at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled new rules today aimed at ensuring that mortgage borrowers can afford to repay loans they take out, reports the Memphis Daily News. The regulations impose a range of obligations and restrictions on lenders, including bans on “interest-only” and “no documentation” loans. Lenders also would be required to verify and inspect borrowers’ financial records and avoid approving debt payments totalling more than 43 percent of the borrower’s annual income.

Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis is calling on Republicans to make the chamber subject to open government laws, saying he wants to see more transparency in the legislative branch. Currently, the legislature does not fall under open government laws that apply to other government agencies, and it cannot bind future General Assemblies to its rules. But Kyle said the chamber could at least adopt the open meetings laws for the two-year session that began this week. While some Republicans called the move political, Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, agreed to take up the issue at an upcoming Rules Committee meeting, reports the Memphis Daily News.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week released its oral argument schedule for the March sitting, which will include arguments in two same-sex marriage cases, according to SCOTUSblog. The court will hear Hollingsworth v. Perry, the California Proposition 8 case, on March 26, and United States v. Windsor, involving a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, on March 27.

The General Assembly has unanimously re-elected Secretary of State Tre Hargett for a four-year term and Comptroller Justin Wilson and Treasurer David Lillard for two-year terms. Hargett is a former chairman of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority and represented Bartlett in the state House from 1997 through 2006. Wilson is a Nashville tax attorney and former aide to Gov. Don Sundquist. Lillard, of Germantown, is a former member of the Shelby County Commission and a financial and tax attorney. All three were first elected in 2009. The Memphis Daily News has more.

Tennessee Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey today removed Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, as head of the Judiciary Committee and replaced her with Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown. Beavers told reporters she suspected that her efforts to ramp up accountability for judges might have played a role in the decision. "I think a lot of the judges really objected to us redoing their ethics," she told the Associated Press. Ramsey denied the move was in response to pressure from anyone saying, “We wanted to take a different direction.” The Memphis Daily News has the story. Other chairs also were named this week. See the list of all House chairs and Senate chairs at Knoxnews.com.

The Association for Women Attorneys (AWA) will host its 33rd Annual Banquet and Silent Auction Jan. 17 at the Tower Center at Clark Tower, 5100 Poplar Ave., Memphis 38137. This year's event will honor U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paulette J. Delk. Also at the event, Frances M. Riley, bankruptcy court law clerk, will take office as president of the organization. A cocktail hour with cash bar and silent auction will begin at 5:30 p.m. with dinner and program following at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $60 for AWA members, $70 for nonmembers and $40 for law students. For more details and tickets, contact AWA Banquet Co-Chair Keating Lowery at keatingl@lawrencerussell.com or (901) 844-4438. Download an announcement about the meeting.

Stites & Harbison attorney Robert Goodrich has been elected chair of the board of directors for Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP) – a non-profit organization that seeks repeal of the state’s death penalty. TADP will hold its 7th annual Student Conference on the Death Penalty at Lipscomb University in Nashville on Feb. 23. The free conference is open to high school, college and graduate students interested in learning about the death penalty issue and hearing from those directly impacted by the system. The conference keynote speaker is Ray Krone, the nation’s 100th death row exoneree, who spent 10 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Learn more about the conference

Family and friends will remember retired Chattanooga lawyer Hal Fredric Sherman Clements at a memorial service Jan. 16 at 3 p.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 305 West 7th St., Chattanooga 37402. Visitation will precede the service beginning at 1:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center, or St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Clements died Dec. 29 at the age of 73. After graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1965, Clements developed a practice representing management in labor and employment matters. In 1981, he co-founded the law firm of Clements, Ingham and Trumpeter, which merged with Miller & Martin in 1987. He spent the rest of his career at Miller & Martin, serving as chair of the labor and employment department. He retired from the firm in 2010. Read more about his life

The Nashville Business Journal offers a top 10 list of jobs where you are more likely to find psychopaths, based on an AOL.com review of the book “The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success.” Lawyers rank number two on the list, right behind CEOs, the newspaper reports.

William K. Suter, the clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, will retire at the end of August after 22 years of service, the Blog of the Legal Times reports. Suter is the 19th person to serve as clerk. Before taking that position, he was an Army major general and served in numerous positions around the world including appellate judge, deputy staff judge advocate of the U.S. Army in Vietnam, staff judge advocate of the 101st Airborne Division, commandant of the JAG school, and assistant judge advocate general of the Army. He has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Parachutist Badge.